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Before I moved to Adelaide I lived in Edinburgh (and in St Andrews before that). While in the UK, I knew I HAD to go back to Scotland to relive the glory days! The good weather I’d had in London and Glastonbury fortunately decided to stick around, making for a very bonnie visit. I’m always discussing the various merits of Scotland with my boyfriend. I think Edinburgh is one of the best cities in the whole world. He on the other hand, found after ten years of living there, the weather wore him down. At least we won’t be having that problem in Australia!

Scottish National Portrait Gallery

Day one in Edinburgh, consisted of an afternoon visit to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, followed by some shopping! This place wins the prize for my favourite museum in Edinburgh. I love everything about it! The Gallery reopened in late 2011 following a big refurbishment and it’s been one of my firm favourites ever since. You just need to look at the entrance hall to know what an amazing place it is.

The Scottish National Portrait Gallery was designed by Sir Robert Rowand Anderson as a shrine for Scotland’s heroes and heroines. It opened to the public in 1889 as the world’s first purpose-built portrait gallery. An elaborate Arts and Crafts decorative scheme, both inside and out, with its glittering friezes, evocative murals and extensive sculptural embellishment, makes it a very special visitor experience.

Mary, Queen of Scots, 1542 – 1587, National Galleries Scotland.

I headed up to the top of the Gallery and started with the beautiful portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots. One of the reasons I love visiting is because Scottish history practically leaps off the walls. For a small country, Scotland has produced a vast array of wonderful minds through the ages. As the quote above suggests, this is the place to learn about the great and the good of Scottish history. I was a little but sad to find my favourite display of Scottish scientists has been removed to make way for a new World War I exhibition, but I guess that’s the rhythm of life in museums.

One of the displays I particularly enjoyed was the temporary exhibition “John Byrne: Sitting Ducks”. Focusing on the artist’s portraiture, the exhibition included many self-portraits. I’ll be sharing my thoughts on the display and the artworks I admired soon.

The Queen’s Gallery

Visting the ‘In Fine Style’ exhibition wearing a dress I made myself!

Day 2: I set out to meet old friends and we ventured to the Queen’s Gallery, at Holyrood Palace. Those who have read my post about the Lace exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia, will know how much I love fashion displays. So I was really excited to see the In Fine Style exhibition, focusing on Tudor and Stuart dress. This exhibition was so amazing and I can’t wait to share the full details with you in an upcoming post. Whilst visiting the Palace I discovered I wasn’t the only person visiting Edinburgh that week. The Queen was also in town for the annual Holyrood week, which includes a garden party at the Palace. Shame she forgot to invite me!

City Art Centre

After a bite to eat for lunch we were off again, this time to the City Art Centre. We were able to catch “A Capital View: the Art of Edinburgh” before it closed early this month.

The Entry of George IV into Edinburgh from the Calton Hill by John Wilson Ewbank, 1822, City of Edinburgh Council.

The beauty of this exhibition was being able to chat about the landscapes pointing out recognisable features. In many of the paintings (including the one above) I was able to identify the location of my old office. It was also interesting to note the things which have changed. For example, the building in the centre of the painting above, is the old Calton Jail, which was demolished in the 1930s. Overall, I thought it was an ideal exhibition for locals and a great celebration of a beautiful city.

I don’t know about you, but I find visiting museums a tiring business. After a wonderful day walking around the city a cocktail was just what I needed! Is anyone else in love with Scotland? Do you enjoy Edinburgh despite the weather being less than perfect?

Since arriving back in the UK, I’ve been travelling the country seeing friends, family and museums. Visiting the Geffrye Museum, during my perfect weekend in London, has been one of the highlights so far. This museum has been on my ‘must visit’ list for a long time. During my museum studies Masters in 2008, I remember one of our lecturers remarking it was her favourite museum. She’s the kind of person with very good taste, so I knew it must be a gem!

As someone who only visits London a couple of times a year, it’s always hard to fit everything in. Especially when the nationals keep coming up with tempting sounding exhibitions. As soon as I entered the Geffrye, I was quickly wondering what had kept me away for so long!

The Geffrye Museum focuses on the homes and gardens of the urban middle classes in Britain. The displays track the tastes and fashions from the 1600s to the modern day. The museum is set in a beautiful old building, which was originally built as almshouse in 1714. Today, the building is surrounded by gardens with a perfect picnic lawn at the front.

The displays consist of a series of period rooms, guiding you through the ages. Each period room is complimented by an introductory display area, with objects, interpretation and furniture you can try out! I liked these displays because you can get a closer look at the collections and it allowed distracting interpretation to be kept to a minimum in the period rooms. It was interesting to learn about how the availability of raw goods was influencing tastes of the period. Of course one of the themes that caught my eye was TEA!

All things related to tea!

I love thinking about a time when tea was a very expensive luxury. The adorable paintings of ladies taking tea, helped you imagine what it would have been like to drink from the dainty cups. I also admired the tea caddies where the lady of the house would have locked away the precious leaves. Heaven forbid one of the servants might try and steal some!

As you can imagine, one of the best parts of the museum was getting to sit on all the different chairs! Below are three of my favourite period rooms. What do you think? Do you have a favourite?

The 1960s living room got me pretty excited as it displayed lots of Danish Modern furniture. Having just bought a very similar dining table and chairs at an antiques shop in Adelaide, I was pleased to see this type of furniture in a museum!

The rooms are complemented by a series of gardens, which are a super part of the visit. As with the period rooms, they are organised in a timeline. There was even a tea garden inspired by beautiful tea set I’d seen on display earlier (pictured above).

Overall this museum has a V&A-like vibe (but not as annoyingly busy!). It was classy and a really fun afternoon out. I also spotted a pretty cafe with views over the gardens. I didn’t have time to test out on this occasion, but it’s a good excuse to visiting again!

So I’m back in London again, after visiting Galstonbury (you can read about my trip to the abbey here) and Scotland. I’ve got a couple of days free for visiting other museums. If anyone has suggestions for other less-obvious museums to visit, I’d love to hear about them. Just add a comment or tweet me @amyldale.

So Glastonbury Festival is over for another year. For those in the know, you’ll already be aware that the festival isn’t actually located in Glastonbury. It’s held in a village called Pilton. I’ve been to the Festival many times over the years, but unlike many festival-goers I’ve also spent a fair bit of time in Glastonbury proper. This year, with the big move to Australia on the cards, I didn’t secure tickets. However, I did end up in the town during the run up to the event.

After a perfect weekend in London I headed West to spend some time in Somerset. With my Mum living in the area, I’ve spent many a happy day there. Glastonbury is know for being one of the most hippy places in the UK. It’s also a place surrounded in history and myth. Glastonbury Abbey dates to the first century and during the 1500s was the second most wealthy abbey in Britain (behind Westminster Abbey). Today the ruined remains are located at the bottom of the high street surrounded by beautiful tranquil gardens.

The Lady Chapel – built between 1184 and 1186 on the site of the first church at Glastonbury.

With the glorious weather continuing, we took a picnic and basked in the perfect afternoon. My favorite part of the visit was the Abbot’s Kitchen, which is still intact. The kitchen would have served fine food and drink to the powerful abbots. A table in the centre of the room displayed the types of food they would have eaten, including produce grown on the lands surround the abbey.

I was impressed with the number of fireplaces in the kitchen. The square room had one in each of the four corners, all designed for different types of activity. In one corner there was a special oven for making pies and bread, and on the other side of the room was a large spit for roasting meat.

King Arthur at Glastonbury

The town of Glastonbury also has strong links with the legends of King Arthur. In the Abbey you can see a grave marked out. The grave is said to be the site of the tomb for King Arthur and Guinevere. Interestingly, the sign goes on to say that the bones of the King and his wife were originally buried in a different part of the Abbey, but were later dug up on the orders of King Edward I. They were reburied with much splendor under the watchful eyes of King Edward I and Queen Eleanor in 1278. As well as enjoying finding out about the history and myths of Glastonbury, it was the perfect day for just strolling in the grounds. Maybe it’s time for Glastonbury to be known for more than music, mud and festival fun.